Citibank fraud: I-T to scrutinise high-networth investors

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department will begin scrutinising the investments and tax payments of some high-networth individuals from next week, who were allegedly duped in the Rs 400 crore fraud at Citibank.

The I-T department had summoned more than 20 such investors whose tax returns are filed in the national capital and Gurgaon.

Different I-T offices including the one in Chandigarh are involved in the probe to ascertain the flow of money and check if taxes have been evaded by these individuals -- by way of non-reporting the funds that they put in the "investment scheme" -- or by the alleged mastermind of the fraud Shivraj Puri, a relationship manager with the bank's Gurgaon branch who dealt with them.

The department, which will scrutinise the documents of these high-networth individuals in a phased manner, will also probe the angle of unaccounted money which was pumped into the stock market, and whether it could have been laundered.

The I-T will pass any information on money laundering or violation of foreign exchange rules to the Enforcement Directorate.